News Archive

2018

Passing of Richard Margolis (Posted December 2018)

Richard Margolis passed away on November 24, 2018. A notable dealer, collector, and author, his work Benjamin Franklin in Terra Cotta: Portrait Medallions by Jean-Baptiste Nini at the Chateau of Chaumont was published in 2015. For more information, please view the E-Sylum article [⇗].

MCA Annual Awards (Posted September 2018)

The MCA issued its 2018 Annual Awards in August at the ANA World's Fair of Money in Philadelphia. The Georgia Stamm Chamberlin award, for newcomers in the field of medallic research, was awarded to Jacob Lipson, a recent graduate of McGill, who is currently working for Heritage Auctions as a cataloguer. He became interested in medals after seeing a medal in the McGill collection, which he also wrote about. Our Carl W. Carlson award, for lifetime achievement in medallic research, was presented to Anne Bentley, Curator of Art & Artifacts at the Massachusetts Historical Society. She has authored and co-authored extensively on the subject of medals, including the book "Comitia Americana and Related Medals," the Columbia-Washington medal, and another book, "Medallic Portraits of Admiral Vernon". At the Society, she has organized numerous exhibitions of the MHS's extensive medal collection.

September Issue of the MCA Advisory Published (Posted September 2018)

The September 2018 issue of The MCA Advisory has been published, and the contents can be viewed here. Members can read the full issue online from their My Account page.

MCA Meeting at the 2018 ANA World's Fair of Money (Posted July 2018)

The MCA will hold its next meeting at the ANA World's Fair of Money in Philadelphia. The meeting will take place on Thursday, August 16, at 1:30 P.M. - 3:00 P.M. in room 117 of the Pennsylvania Convention Center. John Sallay will present "Their Secrets Revealed! Early American College Secret Society Medals".

There will also be a variety of other talks at the ANA related to medals:

Thursday, August 16

9:00 - 9:45 am -- Room 121B
Money Talks
Robert Fritsch: The Lure & Lore of Collecting Medals

1:30 - 3:00 pm -- Room 117
Medal Collectors of America General Meeting
John Sallay: Early American College Secret Society Medals

3:00 - 3:45 pm -- Room 121B
Money Talks: Meet the Experts
A Symposium on the Why, What & How to Collect Tokens and Medals
Q. David Bowers, Steve Hayden, Fred Holabird, Neil Musante, & David Schenkman; moderated by Susan Trask

New MCA Website Launched (Posted June 2018)

A new website for the Medal Collectors of America has been launched. A brand new design has been created, incorporating new material with the previous website information, which allows new content to be added with ease. Additionally, a "My Account" feature has been introduced, where members can log in to access all back issues of The MCA Advisory. Accounts have been established for all members, and they can gain access by following the instructions on the login page to create a password.

MCA-MHS Conference on Medals (Posted April 2018)

Art and Memory: The Role of Medals

Conference organized by the Medal Collectors of America (MCA) and the Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS)

Saturday, November 10, 2018, 8:00AM - 6:30PM, at the MHS, 1154 Boylston Street, Boston, MA

Dinner afterward (at Brasserie JO), 7:00PM – 9:00PM

This conference on medals and medal collecting will include a series of presentations on the role medals have played in American history, the evolution of medallic art, and the ways medals have reflected American culture up to the 21st century. In addition, a panel discussion will cover the stylistic developments from Renaissance medallic art to contemporary art medals ("The Art of the Medal"). A second panel will explore the individual passions that drive numismatists to build their unique collections ("Why Collect Medals?").

Presenters will include:

Len Augsburger, Coordinator, Newman Numismatic Portal, Washington University in St. Louis

Anne Bentley, Curator of Art & Artifacts, Massachusetts Historical Society

Jonathan Brecher, co-author of "So-Called Dollars: An Illustrated Standard Catalogue"

Patrick McMahon, Director of Exhibitions, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Alan Stahl, Curator of Numismatics, Princeton University

Panelists will include several noted numismatists: John W. Adams, Q. David Bowers, Cory Gilliland, Scott Miller, Ira Rezak, Rob Rodriguez, John Sallay, and Stephen Scher.

Space is limited, so register now at https://www.masshist.org/medals [⇗]. More information is available in the MCA-MHS Conference Press Release (pdf).

MCA Meeting at the 2018 NYINC (Posted January 2018)

Our annual MCA winter meeting will take place at noon on Saturday, January 14, 2018, in conjunction with the New York International Numismatic Convention (NYINC). The keynote speaker will be Dr. Lawrence Lee, who will give a presentation on the Crane collection of Indian Peace Medals at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

The NYINC venue has changed from past years, and is at the Grand Hyatt Hotel located at 109 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10022, between Park and Lexington Avenues. Our meeting is in the Julliard room. More information about the show can be found at the NYINC website [⇗].

All are invited and welcome.